Main Theatre

Valencia had several theaters or houses of farces since the sixteenth century, but the Teatro Principal was the first built according to the modern conception of the term. It was designed by the Italian architect Fontana in 1775, although its construction did not begin until the early nineteenth century, leaving the works paralyzed due to the French invasion, to finally be inaugurated in 1831. The building was then three stories high, and later a fourth floor was added raising the roof by cats, without disarming it. The current façade dates from 1854 and is the work of José Camaña. The interior, decorated in the Rococo style, was frescoed by Camarón.

In the nineteenth century the theater was one of the favorite shows of the Valencian society, which came to the Principal to see and be seen, especially the wealthy families, comfortably installed in their boxes. In the late nineteenth century the annual line-up included theater performances, music concerts, opera, operettas and zarzuelas, and the popular masquerade ball for carnival.

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